NOVEMBER 2020 TEA TALK: Homeschooling and Being an Entrepreneur During the Age of COVID-19
Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman moderates a panel of homeschooling entrepreneurial mamas who share their journey of balancing homeschooling and maintaining a business to support their family.
According to the US Census Bureau’s, most recent count of businesses, “the 2018 Annual Business Survey (ABS), found that Black or African Americans owned 124,004 employer businesses (firms with at least one paid employee) in 2017. This accounted for 2.2% of the 5.7 million employer businesses in the United States.
Nineteen percent of all employer-based businesses were female-led—but 36.1% of all Black-owned businesses were headed by women. That's the highest share of businesses within any racial or ethnic group.” (Excerpt from https://usafacts.org/articles/black-women-business-month/)
ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:
Zsudayka Nzingha Terrell is a renowned fine artist and mother of three children who she and her husband unschool in Washington, D.C. Zsudayka is an arts activist born and raised in Aurora, CO. Nzinga began her career as an artist in Denver, CO. She painted abstract and realism portraits and ran an art gallery. She also created art programming for nonprofits and private and charter schools and ran a Black Arts Festival. She made a name for herself as a teenager on the spoken word poetry scene and travelled the country performing her written work with her art on the cover. While traveling, Nzinga felt more and more inspired to create images, particularly the missing story of the black woman. “I felt that when I was telling a story in a poem, people had to have read what I read, seen what I’ve seen to sometimes get the deeper purpose of my work. When I paint my story, a person can look at it and come to their own conclusions in their own time. I can really hit them hard but not have to bear the responsibility of having TOLD them.” After moving to Washington D.C., she started her program From the Corner to the Gallery in 2014, fundraising to take 7 kids under her wing and help them learn to transition their hustle into a legal arts based business. Visit her website at https://www.terrellartsdc.com/
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NaConda N. Frank is a wife, homeschooling mom of five, budding entrepreneur, and conqueror of mental illness. She is a five-time Amazon best-selling author of the best selling books African American Homeschooling Mompreneurs and Confessions of a Depressed Homeschool Mom, 2nd edition. NaConda is also a motivational speaker and a home education consultant. Newly known as "The Homeschool Whisperer", NaConda offers spiritual inspirational & hope for families on their homeschool journey. NaConda can be followed on her social media platforms via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, her YouTube channel, and her website www.NaCondaNFrank.com.
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Olu Butterfly Woods is an award-winning working performance artist, community organizer, writer and homeschooling mother of four children. Based in Baltimore, MD, her innovative creative work has left an indelible mark on the cultural arts history of the city. For over two decades she has devoted time and energy to working with youth and families in multi-disciplinary ways. She is founder of the Free-Up Baltimore Homeschool Cooperative for Afrikan-Centered Families.
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Elle Cole is a mom to twin daughters, one of whom is living with Sickle Cell Anemia and Type 1 Diabetes. She is an award-winning parent advocate who serves as a health advocate for both illnesses. In May 2020, she released her first book A Sickle Cell Coloring Book for Kids, which is an A to Z guide for kids growing up with Sickle Cell Disease.
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NaConda N. Frank is a wife, homeschooling mom of five, budding entrepreneur, and conqueror of mental illness. She is a five-time Amazon best-selling author of the best selling books African American Homeschooling Mompreneurs and Confessions of a Depressed Homeschool Mom, 2nd edition. NaConda is also a motivational speaker and a home education consultant. Newly known as "The Homeschool Whisperer", NaConda offers spiritual inspirational & hope for families on their homeschool journey. NaConda can be followed on her social media platforms via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, her YouTube channel, and her website www.NaCondaNFrank.com.
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Olu Butterfly Woods is an award-winning working performance artist, community organizer, writer and homeschooling mother of four children. Based in Baltimore, MD, her innovative creative work has left an indelible mark on the cultural arts history of the city. For over two decades she has devoted time and energy to working with youth and families in multi-disciplinary ways. She is founder of the Free-Up Baltimore Homeschool Cooperative for Afrikan-Centered Families.
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Elle Cole is a mom to twin daughters, one of whom is living with Sickle Cell Anemia and Type 1 Diabetes. She is an award-winning parent advocate who serves as a health advocate for both illnesses. In May 2020, she released her first book A Sickle Cell Coloring Book for Kids, which is an A to Z guide for kids growing up with Sickle Cell Disease.
This school year marks her seventh official year homeschooling her daughters. In 2019, she started a homeschool support podcast (the Cleverly Changing podcast) with her friend Miriam for moms, dads, and their children. The podcast helps families as they supplement their children's education. In addition, Elle is a passionate educator who holds a B.A. degree in English and History. She is also a recipient of a Bronze Congressional Award and has been featured on NPR, ABC 7, BBC World Service Radio, and a guest on many podcasts. She is a writer, motivational speaker, and social media strategist. Her regular publication, CleverlyChanging.com, is a go-to resource on health, wellness, finances, and parenting.
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Natalie Mack is a mom of five, inactive licensed therapist, Navy Chaplain’s wife, military home educator since 2001, President of Belvoir Home Educators, soccer mom, Scouts BSA Merit Badge Coordinator, business owner, and newbie writer/blogger. Her passions include people, homeschooling, travel, her alma mater (Spelman College), cooking/baking, languages, history, and genealogy research.
She received her BA in Political Science and Spanish from her beloved alma mater, Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia, and her MEd with a concentration in Community Counseling from George Washington University in Washington DC. Hanging up her therapist shingle, she followed God’s leading to home educate her children in 2001. She has launched three of her five children to college, and then on to graduate school or professional careers.
As a military naval spouse, she has lived all over the world, founding and leading military homeschooling groups throughout her journey. Homeschooling abroad in Europe was an incredible opportunity. She and her family have traveled as often as they can to bring history and culture alive for their children.
In response to many requests to provide marital enhancement workshops and how-to-homeschool seminars, Natalie and her husband established Mack Family Consulting LLC.
OCTOBER 2020 TEA TALK: You Are Enough, Developing Confidence to Homeschool Without Fear
Have you had to contend with family members who did not agree with your choice to homeschool? Are you battling your own contradictory ideas about education while trying to curate your child's learning experience as a homeschooling parent? Are you filled with fear sometimes that you are on the wrong track? This panel discusses how it is possible to homeschool without fear that you will mess up your children.
About the panelists:
Kyna Clemons is CEO & Founder of Ujima Children of the Sun Educational Services, CEO and lead textile quilt artist at Gyname Quilt Studio, an activist, and home-school educator in the Washington DC metropolitan area. She is founder of Ujima Children of the Sun Homeschool Collective.
A graduate of Howard University, Ms. Clemons draws inspiration for her quilts from the work and life of Harriet Powers, an enslaved African-American folk artist and quilt maker. Ms.Clemons and her husband, George Clemons, are proud parents of seven children, whom they have home-educated together for over fifteen years.
Maleka Diggs is an unschooling advocate, community organizer, and trainer that centers equity and inclusion with a focus on BIPOC communities who has been serving families, schools and alternative learning spaces through her organization, Eclectic Learning Network. She is also co-founder of Philly Children’s Movement, a multi-racial and multi-generational collective of families talking, playing, and rising up for racial justice! Her work explores the intersections of race and education, its impact on Black and Brown peoples and those within under-represented communities while exploring ways to disrupt the cycle of institutionalized education through unschooling and self-directed learning approaches.
Jade Weatherington is a homeschooling mom of one. She taught in traditional public schools prior to becoming a virtual educator after her daughter asked to be homeschooled. She received her Masters from the University of Minnesota in Family, Parent, and Community Education. Jade advocates for families that still have their children attending public schools and assist families wanting to transition into homeschooling.
You can find more details about her work online at www.TeacherJade.com
You can find more details about her work online at www.TeacherJade.com
Nicole Kennedy Green is a self-proclaimed extreme extrovert. Nicole enjoys homeschooling in environments where she and her children have ample opportunity to share educational and social experiences with other families. In 2017 she co-founded Bridge Elementary Tutorial Homeschool Ministries, where she currently serves as Co-Director. Widely respected as a dynamic English teacher, Nicole serves her local homeschool community by offering High School courses at a local tutorial serving middle and high school students. In 2020, she expanded her reach when she founded GreenHouse Learning Online, a platform from which she teaches a variety of High School English courses to high schoolers and adults. With over fourteen years of experience educating her own children at home (including one graduate!) and facilitating opportunities for homeschoolers to learn together, Nicole has become a sought-after speaker, workshop leader, trainer, tutor, mentor, consultant, and voice of wisdom in the homeschool community. She teaches parents to get their homeschool journey off to a successful start through her most popular workshop, H.O.M.E.S.C.H.O.O.L 101, and companion book entitled H.O.M.E.S.C.H.O.O.L 101: Chart the Course, Enjoy the Journey!
Dr. Meca Williams-Johnson is a professor of Educational Research in the College of Education Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. Additionally, she is married to Francys Johnson and together they have 3 boys Thurgood, Langston and the late Frederick Douglass Johnson. Between committee meetings, service opportunities and teaching classes Dr. Williams-Johnson completes research on exploring emotions and its impact on teaching and learning, parents’ motivation in home schooling and racial identity development.
Learn more about Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars at http://www.BlackFamilyHomeschooling.org
SEPT 2020 TEA TALK: Balancing & Building Your Best Life as a Homeschooling Mom
Black families are turning to homeschooling in droves due to the COVID-19 global pandemic leading to closures of school classrooms and a pivot to virtual learning en masse. The switch can become overwhelming. This panel of veteran homeschooling parents offers insights on how finding balance is possible and key to building your best life as a homeschooling parent.
About the panelists:
Journei Bimwala is a family health and lifestyle development specialist who specializes in guiding, coaching and educating families on ways to build a healthy nutritional foundation and engage in the art of healing. She provides homeschooling families the tools to build wellness through comprehensive wellness services and educational plans that cater to the diverse needs of the community. You can connect with Journei Bimwala on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Dannielle Joy Davis, PhD is a homeschooling mother and was homeschooled as a child. She is a tenured Associate Professor of Higher Education at Saint Louis University. She is the first known African American woman (descended from captive Mende, Temne, and Fula people in the U.S.) to earn tenure in the history of the institution’s School of Education. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she has studied and conducted research in Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium. Her interdisciplinary research examines the experiences of marginalized groups in educational settings, the role of organizational policy and practice in the promotion or inhibition of egalitarian academic and occupational outcomes, and spirituality in the workplace and other learning environments.
Queen Taese is a Black homeschool & education visionary who has been noted for her works of being an award-winning educator and successful homeschool mother for 20+ years. She has taught and learned from thousands of children, as well as designed Afrikan-centered curriculums, critical educational tools, resources, children’s events, and conferences globally. She is founder of the Liberated Minds Black Homeschool & Educational Institute, which is an educational empire forging a new reality for the wholistic cultivation of children throughout the Afrikan diaspora. Its trifold mission consists of the cultural development of Black children as scholars, leaders, passionpreneurs, and innovators that serve the Black community; empowerment of the Black family, and the creation and maintenance of the intergenerational wealth that is needed to shape a future full of prosperity, power, and legacy. Learn more at https://queentaese.com/
Cheryl R. Carter is a busy homeschooling mother, author, speaker and a college professor with a passion to help others write well. She teaches English and Creative Writing classes and has written broadly on a variety of subjects.. She is the author of several books including Organize Your Life, Chasing God and the Kids Too, Essential Writing Skills for the College Bound Student, Inspire the Writer in Your Child and Organize Your AD/HD Child. In addition to writing fiction and poetry in her spare time, she blogs regularly on issues of clarity in written communication and the family. She has a BA in English Literature and a MFA in Creative Writing and has done graduate study in Special Education. She has a Certificate in College Admission from Columbia University. She has also written literary guides and won academic awards for her writing. Her books have been translated into Hebrew, German, Czech and Polish are selling well internationally. Carter's curriculum and writing classes focus on equipping students with the vital skills for lifetime communication success. Her curriculum and classes are marked by a sense of depth yet simplicity that nurture a love of writing and critical thinking in students.
BFHES TEA TALKS are brought to you monthly in our Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars (BFHES) Resource Group on Facebook. They are hosted by the founders of BFHES, Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith and Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, on alternating months. Learn more about the hosts and BFHES at http://www.BlackFamilyHomeschooling.org
August 2020 TEA TALK: Homeschooling Neurodiverse Black Children
Neurodiversity is a term used to identify the brain differences among learners. These differences can include those labeled with Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyscalculia, Autistic Spectrum, Tourette Syndrome, and more. HOSTED BY DR. CHERYL FIELDS-SMITH. Panelists include public school educator/administrator Colie Aziza, homeschooling mom Phyllis Smith Asinyabi, homeschooling mom and Denver Independent School founder Joyelle Naomi and education researcher Dr. Brandi Hinnant-Crawford.